Words are Spells for the Darkwave Band Ceremony Shadows

Ceremony Shadows. Photo credit: Sinéad dB (@sinead_db_photography).

For darkwave band Ceremony Shadows, lyrics hold a special power. Ahead of their first Canadian appearance at Purple City this September, we caught up with the Portland-based trio to discuss their creative evolution, the power of personal rituals, and what to expect from their live set at REVERIE’s Purple City showcase at The Y Afterhours.

REVERIE: How has the band grown since starting as a solo project?

Ceremony Shadows: The band started off as an ambient/experimental solo project, but with the addition of our two vocalists Anastasia and Jakub, we took on the merged identity of all three members. We are now leaning much more heavily into danceable grooves, theatricality and stagecraft that feeds back into our songwriting.

REVERIE: What moment made you realize the project needed to expand into a trio?

Ceremony Shadows: The concrete catalyst was that when the first show booking came in, it was just Timo, and he didn't want to be by himself on stage! So he asked Anastasia to collaborate on a few tracks, and shortly thereafter Jakub joined as well to round out our creative vision and stage presence.

It was a mad dash to write all-new songs for that first show that incorporated Anastasia and Jakub as vocalists and performers, and we pulled it off just in time!

REVERIE: Who are some of the band's aesthetic inspirations?

Ceremony Shadows: All three of us have been immersed in alternative music/culture throughout our lives, with a penchant for "dark" music — specifically, the darkwave and goth/industrial (and adjacent) genres. We are also voracious consumers of art and culture in general, from movies through art installations, fashion, photography and performance art. We love anything that makes us feel, that makes us dance, and that makes us think, and we try to bring that approach to our music as well!

REVERIE: You’ve highlighted the band's upbringings across the USA, Germany and Poland. How have these cultural backgrounds shaped your approach to songwriting, aesthetics, or performance?

Ceremony Shadows: Creating art together has been an interesting experience, showing each of us how much of a cultural imprint we unconsciously carry within ourselves, due to having those different backgrounds.

While we don't consciously try to tease out those influences, we also don't shy away from incorporating them as they fit the art we want to create, and it probably shows — we've had several people comment that we have a European vibe.

When it comes to songwriting, Timo combines the Northern European approach to melody and harmony with the stark approach of German industrial aesthetics and music. Jakub's Eastern European upbringing matches that slightly dystopian worldview, and Anastasia's background as published author helps us craft lyrics with an innate sense of poetry.

REVERIE: Ascension carries themes of transformation, personal power, and reclaiming agency. Was there a catalyst, either personal or political, that sparked these themes throughout the album?

Ceremony Shadows: A sense of transformation and personal agency is indeed the foundation for the emotional arc of our debut album Ascension! The catalyst for this was two-fold: One, all three of us have had experiences throughout our lives that gave us choices of surrendering, or using them as learning moments to reclaim who we are, and who we want to be. So it was crystal-clear to us from the beginning of our creative collaboration that the notion of reclaiming agency needed to be the theme of the album. And while we're drawn to "dark" music, we very much want to bring light to that darkness and awaken consciousness. We aim to empower, extending an invitation to self-initiation.

Two: We are living in a time of cultural and political upheaval. We are not interested in telling people what to think or how to feel, but we are interested in raising awareness of the state of being during these times that we live in, and giving people a catalyst and framework to approach their lives in novel and positive ways.

REVERIE: Tracks like “Resistance” and “Reclaim” surround themes of trauma, agency, and self‑empowerment. How do you protect yourself while exposing these vulnerable ideas within your lyrics?

Ceremony Shadows: One of our mantras (as expressed in the lyrics of our track "Impetus") is "I'm not hiding."

We all carry highly personal anxieties, shame, and self-limiting thoughts and feelings within us, and we decided to use our music and words to not hide them, but to express them openly.

This is indeed a vulnerable place to be, but we hope that showing our own vulnerability will encourage others to do the same. We think we will be better off if we live authentic, vulnerable lives, and hope to encourage others to do the same. So, there's no filter, and no protection!

Ceremony Shadows. Photo credit: Whiskey Shotz Photography (@whiskey_shotz).

REVERIE: What inspired the mantra‑style repetition in tracks like “Impetus” and “Resistance?” The band name itself alludes to rituals and witchcraft, so I'd love to know more about this more meditative lyrical choice.

Ceremony Shadows: As our vocalist Anastasia likes to say: "Words are spells."

Words, especially mantras, can be powerful, and have been used in rituals, prayers, and spiritual practices for centuries. And while we don't espouse any particular strain of spirituality, we do want to use the power of ceremonial and ritualistic practices to embed the positivity of our message of personal empowerment in our artistic presentation.

REVERIE: You’ve cited Boy Harsher, The Knife, and Coil as sonic influences. Are there non-musical influences like film, literature, or philosophy, that are equally important to your sound?

Ceremony Shadows: All three of us have always been drawn to film, literature and philosophy, and have been shaped by that cumulative influence:

In particular, Timo enjoys the magical realism of authors like Haruki Murakami, and the evocative, abstract and stark poetry and writing of Rainer Maria Rilke, Franz Kafka and Durs Grünbein.

Anastasia's influences draw largely from meditation, shadow work, spiritual practices, and studies of various philosophies and religions. Most of her lyrics come directly from her dance floor journal, and the words often feel like downloads direct from Source. She's currently studying Paul Foster Case's Book of Tokens and Sepher Yezirah (author unknown). The latter is considered to be the first philosophical book ever written in the Hebrew language.

Some of Jakub's more poignant literature and philosophy influences are Summa Technologiae by Stanislaw Lem, Theory of Everything by Ken Wilber, Operating Manual for Mothership Earth by Buckminister Fuller and Ways of Worldmaking by Nelson Goodman. Currently Jakub is delving into divination through the I Ching and meditation through Mahasiddha blessings and practices.

REVERIE: What can attendees expect from your live performance?

Ceremony Shadows: We are very intentional with our live performances, and take cues from Kraftwerk's idea of a Gesamtkunstwerk.

We bring our own lights that are custom-programmed, have video projections that are sync'd to the music, and each song is like a mini theater piece. At the same time, we try to reflect the energy of the space and the audience in our live performances for a blend of thoughtful presentation and the unpredictability of the live moment.

We also do something new at every show, like tweaking the live mixes of our songs, or even bringing guest performers on stage. So if you see us more than once, you'll always have something new to look forward to!

Ceremony Shadows will be performing at the REVERIE Magazine showcase at Purple City in Edmonton this September. Tickets are now available for the showcase on Saturday, September 6 featuring Nuxx, Slash Need, Night Ritualz, Jehova's Princess, SILKRØAD, Ceremony Shadows and MORRISMORRIS at The Y Afterhours.